Editing David Niven (section)

====1951–1964: Renewed acclaim====
[[File:David Niven in The Toast of New Orleans trailer.jpg|thumb|left|In ''[[The Toast of New Orleans]]'' (1950) trailer]]
In his post-Goldwyn years, it took Niven some time to return to the top of the Hollywood ladder. Foundering, he supported [[Mario Lanza]] in a musical at MGM, ''[[The Toast of New Orleans]]'' (1950). He then went to England to star in a musical with [[Vera-Ellen]], ''[[Happy Go Lovely]]'' (1951); it was little seen in the US but a big hit in Britain. He was reduced to a support role in MGM's ''[[Soldiers Three (film)|Soldiers Three]]'' (1951) not unlike some of the assignments early in his career. Niven had a far better part in the British war film ''[[Appointment with Venus (film)|Appointment with Venus]]'' (1952), which was popular in England. ''[[The Lady Says No]]'' (1952) was a poorly received American comedy. Niven tried Broadway, appearing opposite [[Gloria Swanson]] in ''Nina'' (1951–52). The play ran for only 45 performances but it was seen by [[Otto Preminger]], who decided to cast Niven in the film version ''[[The Moon Is Blue (film)|The Moon Is Blue]]'' (1953). As preparation Preminger, who had directed the play in New York, insisted that Niven appear on stage in the West Coast run. ''The Moon Is Blue'', a sex comedy, became notorious when it was released without a Production Code Seal of Approval; it was a major hit and Niven won a [[Golden Globe Award]] for his role.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Back in demand, Niven's next few films were made in England: ''[[The Love Lottery]]'' (1954), an [[Ealing]] comedy; ''[[Carrington V.C. (film)|Carrington V.C.]]'' (1954), a drama that earned Niven a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor; and ''[[Happy Ever After (1954 film)|Happy Ever After]]'' (1954), a comedy with [[Yvonne de Carlo]], which was hugely popular in Britain. In Hollywood, he was seen as the villain in an MGM swashbuckler, ''[[The King's Thief]]'' (1955) opposite a young [[Roger Moore]]. He had a better part in ''[[The Birds and the Bees (film)|The Birds and the Bees]]'' (1956), portraying a conman in a remake of ''[[The Lady Eve]]'' (1941), in which Niven played a third-billed supporting role under American television comedian [[George Gobel]] and [[leading lady]] [[Mitzi Gaynor]]. Niven also appeared in the British [[romantic comedy]] ''[[The Silken Affair]]'' (1956) with [[Geneviève Page]] the same year.

Niven's professional fortunes were fully restored when he starred as [[Phileas Fogg]] in ''[[Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)|Around the World in 80 Days]]'' (1956), a huge hit at the box office and his signature film; it won the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]]. He followed it with ''[[Oh, Men! Oh, Women!]]'' (1957); ''[[The Little Hut]]'' (1957), from the writer of ''The Moon is Blue'' and another success at the box office; ''[[My Man Godfrey (1957 film)|My Man Godfrey]]'' (1957), a screwball comedy; and ''[[Bonjour Tristesse (1958 film)|Bonjour Tristesse]]'' (1958), for Preminger. Niven also worked in television. He appeared several times on various short-drama shows and was one of the "four stars" of the dramatic [[anthology series]] ''[[Four Star Playhouse]]'', appearing in 33 episodes. The show was produced by [[Four Star Television]], which was owned and founded by Niven, [[Ida Lupino]], [[Dick Powell]], and [[Charles Boyer]]. The show ended in 1955, but Four Star became a highly successful TV production company.{{Citation needed|date=September 2012}}

[[File:David Niven 1958.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Drawing of Niven commemorating his 1958 Oscar win for ''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]'']]
[[File:David Niven in 1959.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Host/Best Actor, 1959]]
Niven is the only person to win an [[Academy Award]] at the ceremony he was hosting.<ref name="keegan20190220">{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/politics-oscar-inside-academys-long-hard-road-a-hostless-show-1187424 |title=The Politics of Oscar: Inside the Academy's Long, Hard Road to a Hostless Show |last=Keegan |first=Rebecca |date=20 February 2019 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=25 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225041612/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/politics-oscar-inside-academys-long-hard-road-a-hostless-show-1187424 |archive-date=25 February 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He won the 1959 [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] for his role as Major David Angus Pollock in ''[[Separate Tables (film)|Separate Tables]]'', his only nomination for an Oscar. Appearing on-screen for only 23 minutes in the film, this is the briefest performance ever to win a Best Actor Oscar.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} He was also a co-host of the 30th, 31st, and 46th Academy Awards ceremonies. After Niven had won the Academy Award, Goldwyn called with an invitation to his home. In Goldwyn's drawing-room, Niven noticed a picture of himself in uniform which he had sent to Goldwyn from Britain during the Second World War. In happier times with Goldwyn, he had observed this same picture sitting on Goldwyn's piano. Now years later, the picture was still in exactly the same spot. As he was looking at the picture, Goldwyn's wife Frances said, "Sam never took it down."<ref name="Moon"/> 

With an Oscar to his credit, Niven's career continued to thrive. In 1959, he became the host of his own TV drama series, ''[[The David Niven Show]]'', but he was still starring in major films. He led in ''[[Ask Any Girl (film)|Ask Any Girl]]'' (1959), with Shirley MacLaine; the [[Carl Reiner]]-scripted ''[[Happy Anniversary (1959 film)|Happy Anniversary]]'' (1959) opposite Mitzi Gaynor; and ''[[Please Don't Eat the Daisies (film)|Please Don't Eat the Daisies]]'' (1960) with [[Doris Day]], a huge hit.

[[File:The Rogues cast 1964.JPG|right|thumb|upright|The cast of ''[[The Rogues (TV series)|The Rogues]]'' (1964) with [[Charles Boyer]], [[Gig Young]], Niven, [[Robert Coote]] and [[Gladys Cooper]]]]
Even more popular was the action film ''[[The Guns of Navarone (film)|The Guns of Navarone]]'' (1961) with [[Gregory Peck]] and [[Anthony Quinn]]. This role led to the ex-soldier being cast in further war and/or action films: ''[[The Captive City (1962 film)|The Captive City]]'' (1962); ''[[The Best of Enemies (1961 film)|The Best of Enemies]]'' (1962); ''[[Guns of Darkness]]'' (1962); and ''[[55 Days at Peking]]'' (1963) with [[Charlton Heston]] and [[Ava Gardner]]. Niven returned to comedy with ''[[The Pink Panther (1963 film)|The Pink Panther]]'' (1963) also starring [[Peter Sellers]], another huge success at the box office. Less so was the comedy ''[[Bedtime Story (1964 film)|Bedtime Story]]'' (1964) with [[Marlon Brando]], later remade with [[Michael Caine]] in a very Nivenish performance under the title ''[[Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (film)|Dirty Rotten Scoundrels]]''. In 1964, Charles Boyer, [[Gig Young]], and top-billed Niven appeared in the Four Star series ''[[The Rogues (TV series)|The Rogues]]'' for NBC. Niven played Alexander 'Alec' Fleming, one of a family of retired con-artists who now fleece villains in the interests of justice. This was his only recurring role on television, and the series was originally set up to more or less revolve between the three leads in various combinations (one-lead, two-lead and three-lead episodes), although in the event, Gig Young, being the least busy, carried most of the series, with an assist from [[Larry Hagman]]. ''The Rogues'' ran for one season and won a Golden Globe.{{cn|date=November 2024}}